In numerous forum postings, developers and students have addressed the same question: how to utilize Web API REST Service in an ASP.NET MVC application and how to initiate a call between them to exchange data. So, in response to this need, I decided to write this post to show how to use HttpClient to consume the ASP.NET Web API REST Service in an ASP.NET MVC application.

Prerequisites
If you're not sure what a Web API REST service is or how to construct, publish, and host an ASP.NET Web API REST Service, please watch my video and read the papers linked below. Follow the same steps if you want to learn how to create, host, and consume web API REST services in client applications.

In this article, we will use the same hosted Web API REST service to consume in our created ASP.NET MVC web application. Now, let's start consuming Web API REST service in the ASP.NET MVC application step by step.

Step 1. Create an MVC Application
Start, followed by All Programs, and select Microsoft Visual Studio 2015.
Click File, followed by New, and click Project. Select ASP.NET Web Application Template, provide the Project a name as you wish, and click OK.
After clicking, the following Window will appear. Choose an empty project template and check on the MVC option.

The preceding step creates the simple empty ASP.NET MVC application without a Model, View, and Controller, The Solution Explorer of created web application will look like the following.

Step 2. Install HttpClient library from NuGet
We are going to use HttpClient to consume the Web API REST Service, so we need to install this library from NuGet Package Manager .

What is HttpClient?
HttpClient is base class which is responsible to send HTTP request and receive HTTP response resources i.e from REST services.
To install HttpClient, right click on Solution Explorer of created application and search for HttpClient, as shown in the following image.

Now, click on Install button after choosing the appropriate version. It will get installed after taking few seconds, depending on your internet speed.

Step 3. Install WebAPI.Client library from NuGet
This package is used for formatting and content negotiation which provides support for System.Net.Http. To install, right click on Solution Explorer of created application and search for WebAPI.Client, as shown in following image.

Now, click on Install button after choosing the appropriate version. It will get installed after taking few seconds depending on your internet speed. We have installed necessary NuGet packages to consume Web API REST services in web application. I hope you have followed the same steps.

Step 4. Create Model Class
Now, let us create the Model class named Employee.cs or as you wish, by right clicking on Models folder with same number of entities which are exposing by our hosted Web API REST service to exchange the data. The code snippet of created Employee.cs class will look like this.

Employee.cs
public class Employee
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string City { get; set; }
}

Step 5. Add Controller Class
Now, let us add ASP.NET MVC controller

After clicking Add button, it will show in the Window. Specify the Controller name as Home with suffix Controller. Now, let's modify the default code of Home controller .

Our hosted Web API REST Service includes these two methods, as given below.

• GetAllEmployees (GET )
• GetEmployeeById (POST ) which takes id as input parameter

We are going to call GetAllEmployees method which returns the all employee details ,The hosted web api REST service base URL is http://192.168.95.1:5555/ and to call GetAllEmployees from hosted web API REST service, The URL should be Base url+api+apicontroller name +web api method name as following http://192.168.95.1:5555/api/Employee/GetAllEmployees.

In the preceding url

• http://localhost:56290 Is the base address of web API service, It can be different as per your server.
• api It is the used to differentiate between Web API controller and MVC controller request .
• Employee This is the Web API controller name.
• GetAllEmployees This is the Web API method which returns the all employee list.

After modifying the code of Homecontroller class, the code will look like the following.

Homecontroller.cs
using ConsumingWebAapiRESTinMVC.Models;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace ConsumingWebAapiRESTinMVC.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        //Hosted web API REST Service base url
        string Baseurl = "http://192.168.95.1:5555/";
        public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
        {
            List<Employee> EmpInfo = new List<Employee>();
            using (var client = new HttpClient())
            {
                //Passing service base url
                client.BaseAddress = new Uri(Baseurl);
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Clear();
                //Define request data format
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
                //Sending request to find web api REST service resource GetAllEmployees using HttpClient
                HttpResponseMessage Res = await client.GetAsync("api/Employee/GetAllEmployees");
                //Checking the response is successful or not which is sent using HttpClient
                if (Res.IsSuccessStatusCode)
                {
                    //Storing the response details recieved from web api
                    var EmpResponse = Res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
                    //Deserializing the response recieved from web api and storing into the Employee list
                    EmpInfo = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<Employee>>(EmpResponse);
                }
                //returning the employee list to view
                return View(EmpInfo);
            }
        }
    }
}

I hope, you have gone through the same steps and understood about the how to use and call Web API REST service resource using HttpClient .

Step 6. Create strongly typed View
Now, right click on Views folder of the created application and create strongly typed View named by Index by choosing Employee class to display the employee list from hosted web API REST Service, as shown in the following image.

Now, click on Add button. It will create View named index after modifying the default code. The code snippet of the Index View looks like the following.

Index.cshtml
@model IEnumerable<ConsumingWebAapiRESTinMVC.Models.Employee>
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "www.compilemode.com";
}
<div class="form-horizontal">
    <hr />
    <div class="form-group">
        <table class="table table-responsive" style="width:400px">
            <tr>
                <th>
                    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.Name)
                </th>
                <th>
                    @Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.City)
                </th>
            </tr>
            @foreach (var item in Model) {
                <tr>
                    <td>
                        @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Name)
                    </td>
                    <td>
                        @Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.City)
                    </td>
                </tr>
            }
        </table>
    </div>
</div>

The preceding View will display all employees list . Now, we have done all the coding.

Step 7. Run the Application
After running the Application, the employee list from hosted web API REST service.

I hope, from the above examples, you have learned how to consume Web API REST Service in ASP.NET MVC using HttpClient.

Note

• Download the Zip file of the Published code to learn and start quickly.
• This article is just a guideline on how to consume Web API REST Service in ASP.NET MVC application using HttpClient.
• In this article, the optimization is not covered in depth; do it as per your skills.

This tutorial will focus on ASP.NET Core MVC; as developers, we can use ViewBag or ViewData to send data from the server to the client side. These protocols provide simple and efficient data transport to the client side without the need for sophisticated client-side frameworks or libraries. This article will look at how to pass ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript in ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Core MVC, with code samples.

What are ViewBag and ViewData?
ViewBag and ViewData are classes supplied by the ASP.NET MVC framework that allow us to transmit data from the controller to the views. They are temporary data containers capable of storing any object and transferring data between the controller and display.

ViewBag in ASP.NET MVC framework
ViewBag is a dynamic object that can contain any object. It is a property of the ControllerBase class, which is the foundational class for all ASP.NET controllers. ViewBag is a dynamic object, which means it can be assigned any value at runtime.

ViewData in ASP.NET MVC framework
ViewData is a dictionary-like object that is part of the ViewDataDictionary class. ViewData is a collection of key-value pairs that can store any object. The keys are strings, while the values are objects.

How to pass data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript?
ASP.NET Core MVC allows developers to send data from the server to the client using ViewBag or ViewData. These protocols provide simple and efficient data transport to the client side without the need for sophisticated client-side frameworks or libraries. This post will look at how to transmit data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript in ASP.NET Core MVC, with code examples.

There are several ways to pass data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript. Let's look at some of the most common methods.

Using a hidden input field
A hidden input field is a simple method for passing data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript. In your view, you may add a hidden input field and set its value to the data you want to send. Then, in JavaScript, you can retrieve the value of the input field and use it as needed.

In ASP.NET Core MVC, the following example shows how to use a hidden input field to send data from ViewBag to JavaScript.

@{
    ViewBag.MyData = "Peter Blog Post";
}
<input type="hidden" id="my-data" value="@ViewBag.MyData" />
<script>
    var myData = document.getElementById("my-data").value;
    console.log(myData); // Output: "Ziggy, Rafiq Blog Post"
</script>

Using JSON serialization
Another way to pass data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript is by serializing the data as JSON and then using it in your JavaScript code. This method is useful when passing more complex data types, such as objects or arrays.

Below is an example of using JSON serialization to pass data from ViewData to JavaScript in ASP.NET Core MVC.
@{
    ViewData["MyData"] = new { Name = "Lerzan", Age = 28 };
}
<script>
    var myData = @Html.Raw(Json.Serialize(ViewData["MyData"]));
    console.log(myData.Name); // Output: "Lerzan"
    console.log(myData.Age); // Output: 28
</script>

Using AJAX
Finally, AJAX can pass data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript asynchronously. This method is useful when you want to load data dynamically from the server side without refreshing the page.

Below is an example of using AJAX to pass data from ViewBag to JavaScript in ASP.NET Core MVC.
@{
    ViewBag.MyData = "Peter Blog Post";
}

<script>
    $.ajax({
        url: '@Url.Action("GetData")',
        type: 'GET',
        data: { myData: '@ViewBag.MyData' },
        success: function (data) {
            console.log(data); // Output: "Peter Blog Post"
        }
    });

</script>
// Controller action method
public ActionResult GetData(string myData)
{
    return Content(myData);
}

In the example above, we use jQuery AJAX to call the "GetData" action method on the server side and pass the ViewBag data as a query string parameter. The server-side method returns the data as plain text, which is then logged to the console in the AJAX success callback.

Passing ViewBag Data to JavaScript
To pass ViewBag data to JavaScript, we can create a script block in the view and assign the value of ViewBag to a JavaScript variable. Here's an example below.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewBag.Message = "I am Peter";
        return View();
    }
}
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Peter Website";
}
<script>
    var message = '@ViewBag.Message';
    alert(message);
</script>

In the above example, we assigned a value to ViewBag in the controller. Then we accessed the ViewBag data in the view by creating a script block and assigning the value to a JavaScript variable. We then displayed an alert box with the message value.
Passing ViewData Data to JavaScript

To pass ViewData data to JavaScript, we can create a hidden input field in the view and assign the value of ViewData to the field. We can then access the value of the hidden input field in JavaScript. Here's an example,
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewData["Message"] = "This is Peter Blog Site";
        return View();
    }
}
@{
    ViewData["Title"] = "Peter Blog";
}
<input type="hidden" id="message" value="@ViewData["Message"]" />

<script>
    var message = document.getElementById("message").value;
    alert(message);
</script>

In the above example, we assigned a value to ViewData in the controller and then accessed the ViewData data in the view by creating a hidden input field and assigning the value to the field. We then accessed the value of the hidden input field in JavaScript and displayed an alert box with the message value.

Summary
To summarize, we looked at how to transmit data from ViewBag or ViewData to JavaScript in ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Core MVC. We discovered that using ViewBag and ViewData efficiently transports data from the server to the client side, making web applications more interactive and dynamic. We may quickly transmit data to the client without the use of sophisticated frameworks or libraries by converting data to JSON, giving values to JavaScript variables, or accessing data through hidden fields. These strategies can improve the user experience and result in more powerful and responsive web apps.

Forms Authentication is a popular approach in ASP.NET for managing user authentication within online applications. It enables developers to authenticate users using credentials saved in a database or another user store. This article will lead you through the process of implementing Forms Authentication in an ASP.NET web application with.NET Framework 4.8.0.

Step 1. Create a New ASP.NET Web Application
Open Visual Studio and create a new ASP.NET web application project, ensuring the selection of the appropriate framework version (in this case, .NET Framework 4.8.0).

Step 2. Configure Forms Authentication in web.config
Navigate to the web.config file of your ASP.NET application. Configure Forms Authentication by adding the following configuration within the <system.web> section:

<authentication mode="Forms">
    <forms loginUrl="~/Authority/Login" timeout="30"></forms>
</authentication>

This configuration specifies that Forms Authentication is enabled, the login page is Login.chtml, the default landing page after login is Default.chtml, and the session timeout is set to 30 minutes.

Step 3. Create a Login Page
Add a new web form named Login.chtml to your project. Design the login page with fields for username and password, as well as a login button.

Step 4. Implement Login Logic
In the code-behind file (Login.cs), implement the login logic when the user submits the login form.
using System.Web.Mvc;
using AdminPlain.Models;
using ApplicationDb.Operation;
using System.Web.Security;

namespace AdminPlain.Controllers
{
    [HandleError]
    public class AuthorityController : Controller
    {
        AdminPlainRepositery repo = null;
        public AuthorityController()
        {
            repo = new AdminPlainRepositery();
        }
        // GET
        public ActionResult Login()
        {
            return View();
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Login(AuthorityMembers members)
        {
            var result = repo.FindUser(members);
            if (result)
            {
                FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(members.Name, false);
                return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
            }
            ModelState.AddModelError("", "Invalid UserName and Password");
            return View();
        }
    }
}

Step 5. Create a Default Landing Page
Add another web form named Default.chtml to serve as the default landing page after successful login. This page can contain protected content that only authenticated users can access.

Step 6. Protect Pages
To protect pages that require authentication, you can use the Authorize attribute. Apply the [Authorize] attribute to the code-behind file of protected pages.
[Authorize]
public ActionResult Index(ApplicationModel detail)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid)
    {
       var result = repo.addTask(detail);
       ViewBag.isSuccess = true;
    }else {
        ViewBag.isSuccess = false;
    }
    return View();
}

Step 7. Implement Logout Functionality
To allow users to log out, create a logout button or link that calls the SignOut method of the FormsAuthentication class.
public ActionResult Logout()
{
    FormsAuthentication.SignOut();
    return RedirectToAction("Login");
}

Forms Authentication in ASP.NET Framework 4.8.0 provides a straightforward method for implementing user authentication in web applications. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a secure login system that protects sensitive areas of your application and provides a smooth user experience.

As you are aware, one of the most useful features in Visual Studio 2013 is "One ASP.NET," which allows us to construct an application using Web Forms, MVC, and Web API. We can build it all in a single application. When using all of these ASP.NET components within a single application, there may be a few alternatives, such as:

• An existing Web Forms project can be configured with MVC functionality to generate modules
• Modules can communicate with Web Forms and receive information from the MVC controller

There are various sections, as specified below, to construct the scenario in which we can pass data from the GridView to the new MVC controller and view it through the MVC View.

• Creating an application
• Adding MVC Controller and Models
• Creating View
• Run the application.

Creating an Application
In this section, we can build an empty project template and then use the ASP.NET wizard to add the Web Forms project using the steps below.
Step 1: Create an ASP.NET web application.
Step 2: Choose the empty project and online forms.

Step 3: Add the WebForm named DataWebForm to the project.

Step 4: Now add the GridView from the toolbox

Adding MVC Controller and Models
In this section we'll create the model and controller for the project using the following procedure.

Step 1: Add the ADO.NET Data Entity Model to the Models folder.

Step 2: Now configure the data model with the database table.

Step 3: Now configure the data source for the Grid View and then add the Button template filed inside the GridView with the following code:
<asp:TemplateField ShowHeader="false">
    <ItemTemplate>
        <asp:Button ID="BtnEdit" Text="Edit" PostBackUrl="Cricketer/Edit" runat="server" />
    </ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>

In the code above we have set the PostBackUrl property to the Edit View page. We'll create it in the following procedure.

Step 4: Now run the application

Step 5: Now add the following code of HiddenField and Literal after the GridView control:
<asp:HiddenField ID="FormToMVC" runat="server" />
<br />
<asp:Literal ID="Literal1" runat="server"></asp:Literal>

Step 6: Add the jQuery to the Scripts folder. You can download it. Modify your page head part with the following code:
<head runat="server">
    <title>WebForms To MVC</title>
    <script src="Scripts/jquery-2.0.3.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        $(document).ready(function () {
            $("input:submit").click(function (evt) {
                var Cric_Data = {};
                Cric_Data.ID = $(evt.target).closest("tr").children("td:eq(0)").html();
                Cric_Data.Name = $(evt.target).closest("tr").children("td:eq(1)").html();
                Cric_Data.Team = $(evt.target).closest("tr").children("td:eq(2)").html();
                Cric_Data.Grade = $(evt.target).closest("tr").children("td:eq(3)").html();
                $("#FormToMVC").val(JSON.stringify(Cric_Data));
            });
        });
    </script>
</head>

In the code above you can see that the ready handler is used to handle the click event for all buttons in the form and if the edit button is selected by the user then it creates the JavaScript object and sets the properties, like id, name and so on to the values from a GridView row. The closest method gets the reference of the table row for editing and then the html method returns the data inside the GridView.

Step 7: Now we create a new folder named Controllers and add a new scaffolded item

Note: Please build the solution before scaffolding.

Step 8: Create a Empty MVC 5 Controller.
Add Scaffold in MVC 5

This will add the Content, App_Start,  fonts and Views folders to the project automatically. Now modify your controller with the code below:
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using WebFormsToMvcApp.Models;
namespace WebFormsToMvcApp.Controllers
{
    public class CricketerController : Controller
    {
        //
        // GET: /Cricketer/
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }
        public ActionResult Edit()
        {
            string Jason_Data = Request.Form["FormToMVC"];
            Cricketer CricObj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Cricketer>(Jason_Data);
            return View(CricObj);
        }
        public void Update(Cricketer CricObj)
        {
            CricketerSite_Entities CricDb = new CricketerSite_Entities();
            Cricketer Cric_Exist = CricDb.Cricketers.Find(CricObj.ID);
            Cric_Exist.Name = CricObj.Name;
            Cric_Exist.Team = CricObj.Team;
            Cric_Exist.Grade = CricObj.Grade;
            CricDb.SaveChanges();
            Response.Redirect("/DataWebForm.aspx?cricketerid=" + CricObj.ID);
        }
    }
}

In the code above, the Edit action method is used to read the JSON data sent from the webform and then the JSON.NET library is used to desterilize the JSON string ("FormToMVC") into the Cricketer class object.

We have also created the Update() to get the information of the Edit() View. It receives the data as the Cricketer object. It simply applies the changes to the database.

Step 9: Modify the Global.asax file with the following code:
using System;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Optimization;
using System.Web.Routing;
namespace WebFormsToMvcApp
{
    public class Global : System.Web.HttpApplication
    {
        protected void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
            RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
            FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
            BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
        }
    }
}

Creating View
In this section we'll create the view for the controller using the following procedure.
Step 1: Right-click on the Edit method for adding the view.

Step 2: Edit and modify the view with the following code:
@model WebFormsToMvcApp.Models.Cricketer
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Edit Cricketer";
}
<h2>Edit</h2>
@using (Html.BeginForm("Update","Cricketer",FormMethod.Post))
{
    <div class="form-horizontal">
        <h4>Cricketer</h4>
        <hr/>
        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model=> model.ID)
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.TextBoxFor(model=> model.ID)
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Name)
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Name)
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Team)
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Team)
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="form-group">
            @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Grade)
            <div class="col-md-10">
                @Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Grade)
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="form-group">
            <div class="col-md-10">
                <input type="submit" value="Update" />
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
}

The code defined above submits the data to the Update method.

Step 3: Now at last add the following code to the DataWebForm's Page_Load() event:
public partial class DataWebForm : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Request.QueryString["cricketerid"]))
        {
            Literal1.Text = "Cricketer" + Request.QueryString["cricketerid"] + "Updated Successfully";
        }
    }
}

That's it. You can see the following figure of Solution Explorer to view the entire project:

Running the Application
Step 1: Run the DataWebForm and click on the Edit button to update the data
Step 2: Update the info and click on the Update